MURRIETA: New approach for housing coming

Saying they will take a new approach when discussions resume
regarding the distribution of new housing in California, the
Murrieta City Council approved a long-term housing plan last
week.

Council members approved a proposal to allow the construction of
high-density housing on three sites owned by the city that total 10
acres, as well as on a swath of land that straddles Interstate
15.

The approval fulfills a state requirement that all general-law
cities show where they can accommodate housing for expected
population growth, with an added emphasis on earmarking land for
affordable housing that can serve people of all income ranges.

"This was an amazing journey," Councilman Rick Gibbs said during
the June 21 hearing, referring to the four years it took for city
officials to find a compromise between community members' desires
and the state's requirements.

Although the approval satisfies the state mandate through 2014,
regional leaders have already begun discussing how much more
housing will be needed by 2021.

Mayor Randon Lane, who is among those studying the amount of
residential development that will needed in the next decade, said a
new approach will be taken to give cities a stronger say in how
many houses should be built.

"We believe that they're going to work for us, and hope for the
best," Lane said. "But if something changes, we'll work with it at
that time."

Although cities are not required to build any housing or even
approve housing projects, the state requires cities to show they
are continually designating land for residential development. The
state projects population growth region by region, and the
governing bodies of those regions assign each city a target number
for additional residential units.

Murrieta officials have pointed to the original requirement that
the city plan for more than 9,000 new residences as evidence that
the practice is inaccurate at best.

At worst, officials have said, the practice leads to an unfair
dump of responsibility on suburbs that still have vacant land,
while cities that have already built up most of their land get off
easier in terms of providing housing.

Lane, who sits on the subcommittee for the regional association
that determines the housing numbers for each city, said a new
approach will be tried out during the next cycle.

Instead of taking the numbers handed down by the state, the
regional association is going to ask each city to make its own
housing estimates. Those estimates will be presented to the state,
Lane said.

"We believe they were really off last time," Lane said. "The
numbers should be based on what the cities in the region say we
believe our numbers should be."

Murrieta successfully appealed its original housing requirement
and has been required to show where it can accommodate more than
6,300 residences. To satisfy the requirement, city officials last
week approved allowing more than 30 units to be built per acre on
three city-owned sites.

The first of the three city-owned parcels is 2 acres of
undeveloped land along Jefferson Avenue. City planning officials
believe 62 new housing units could be built there.

The second piece of city-owned property that officials are
eyeing for development of low-income housing is 2 acres near City
Hall at the northeast corner of Jefferson and Juniper Street. Sixty
units could be built there, officials say.

A 6-acre parcel east of Adams Avenue between Ivy Street and
Juniper Street could accommodate 180 new housing units, planners
said.

Additionally, council members preliminarily approved a proposal
that would allow low-income housing to be built on 78 acres between
Los Alamos and Murrieta Hot Springs roads on both sides of
Interstate 15.

With hopes that a high-speed rail station one day could be built
in Murrieta along either of the two freeways that cut through the
city, planning officials are recommending that more than 2,300
housing units be allowed on that land, with a new objective of
mixing housing with commercial businesses around transit areas.